Beth Klein Boulder Attorney Presentation on Voir Dire for the Very Young Juror

1. The Very Young Juror
Beth Klein
Klein Frank, P.C.
beth@kleinfrank.com
I try high dollar cases for people that have suffered life altering injures. I help people who have been devastated
have a chance at productive and meaningful lives. I help other lawyers polish their skills and present great trials.
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Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and
wiser than the one that comes after it.”
George Orwell
General Profile
Born after 1996 18-21 years old:
There was a clear shift away from the traditional family structure;
Parents became obsessed with safety and putting their kids on the "path to success";
Kids spent too much time with "the box";
Media was used for the first time to create “a frenzy” around a toy named Elmo;
Spice Girls created “girl power” – the idea that girls could claim power and authority.
The Internet was in its infancy;
Electronic devices became fashion accessories;
Super Mario 64 revolutionized gaming;
Osama Bin Laden officially declared jihad on America;

2. Global warming became a legitimate concern.
For this generation, technology, global warming and terrorism will be the norm. This generation
of kids have been over-parented and over-protected. They have been exposed to non-traditional
family structures and their perspective around what is "normal" will be truly different than it has
ever been before. This generation of kids will think differently, they will have different
expectations about what is possible, and will view the world through a truly different - perhaps
more empathetic - lens.
Generation Z kids are also called the Silent Generation, the iGeneration, Generation Now,
Generation Multitask, the Google Generation, Net Gen, Net Natives and Dot.com Kids.
Generation Z are the first generation of children to be born into family units that don’t fit the
definition of the traditional family – a married couple with children. What had become the norm,
for past generations of children, was rapidly becoming a thing of the past. All credit to
http://www.iamgenz.com/
The rise of the single-parent family unit:
In 1970 only 13 percent of families were headed by a single parent. By 1996, nearly one-fourth
of children lived with a single parent. Approximately 84 percent of these families were headed
by a woman. What is most interesting is that historically single-parent families were the result
of parental death. By 1996, increased rates of divorce, unmarried childbearing, and increased
employment opportunities enabled women to set up and run their own households. It has been
estimated that 50 percent of children born in recent cohorts will spend some part of their
childhood with a single parent as a result of separation, divorce, or out-of-marriage births.
Generation Z children also were born the year that marked the turning point for same-sex
couples.
The emergence of same-sex couples:
In one Hawaii court case, the court ordered the state to allow legal marriage for same-sex
couples. In 1996, The United States Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
defining marriage solely as a union between a couple of the opposite sex. In spite of this Act, the
traditional family was fast becoming a thing of the past for Generation Z kids.
A new movement was afoot in 1996: Genius Zeitgeist.
Parents quickly jumped on the research that demonstrated that early stimulation and experiences
could completely change the way a person turns out. The front cover of Newsweek in February
of 1996 titled “Your Child’s Brain” highlighted that the experiences of childhood help form the
brain’s circuits for music, math, language and emotion. This research and the launch of
companies like Baby Einstein, marked the start of not only a new line of videos and toys, but a
whole new generation of parents who believed that these so called “enrichment activities” could

3. put their toddlers squarely in the fast lane to success. The worldwide market for this segment of
videos and toy is expected to reach $6.5 billion in 2014. http://www.2012-spiritual-growth-
prophecies.com/indigo-child.html And then there was the Indigo Child movement!
Parenting Becomes A Competitive Sport
“Great Minds Start Little” was just the beginning of the frantic scramble to accomplish and
perform. Generation Z kids are the product of – competitive parenting – all in the name of
controlling their future and ensuring their entrance into top colleges. A University of Minnesota
study demonstrated that between 1981 and 1997 - structured sports time has doubled,
unstructured children's activities have declined by 50%, household conversations are far less
frequent, family dinners have declined 33%, and family vacations have decreased by 28%.
During the same period, homework has increased dramatically between 1981 and 1997, tripling
among 6-8 year olds. These demographic changes appear to be related to the changing social
views that value structured activities as skill-learning opportunities for children’s development
and school advancement. Parenting had truly become a competitive sport – and Generation Z
kids were the game.
Bubble-Wrapped Kids
Generation Z children have been referred to as “bubble-wrapped” kids. This Generation of
children has been over-protected and over-coddled – the question is – have we kept them too safe
for their own good? “In our mania to provide emotional life jackets around our kids, helmets and
seatbelts, approved playground equipment, after-school supervision, an endless stream of
evening programming, and no place to hang out but the tiled flooring of our local mall, we
parents are accidentally creating a generation of youth who are not ready for life. Our children
are too safe for their own good.” Michael Ungar “Too Safe For Their Own Good”
More Time with the Box
“A typical child watches 25,000 hours of television before his or her 18th birthday. Preschoolers
watch 28 hours of television a week.” President Clinton (1996). In 1996:
54% of U.S. children have a television set in their bedrooms.
66% of children’s programming had violence.
Forty-six percent of all television violence took place in children's cartoons. Children's
programs were least likely to depict the long-term consequences of violence (5%) and they
portray violence in a humorous fashion 67% of the time.
Kids were exposed to eight sexual references per hour during what was referred to as the
Family Hour.

4. American children were the target of 11 adverts per hour – half of which were sweets,
breakfast cereal and fast foods.
The Dawn of the Internet
In 1996:
Google didn’t exist yet.
There were only 100,000 websites.
43% of today’s top sites had been launched.
Americans with Internet access spent fewer than 30 minutes a month surfing.
There were 36 million users or 0.9% of the population.
The launch of HotMail revolutionized Internet communication.
Girl Power
The Spice Girls released their debut single, “Wannabe,” in 1996. The song hit number-one in 31
countries and helped establish the group as a "global phenomenon". With 1996 came the Spice
Girls and the phrase “girl power,” allowing young girls to claim power and authority. The Spice
Girls were the fabrication built from scratch by Simon Fuller, creator of the Idol series and So
You Think You Can Dance. “They weren't a band in the conventional sense. They were
auditioned and choreographed and edited and produced.” The most significant thing about the
Spice Girls was the spotlight they put on teenage girls. The Spice Girls were the first in a long
time to be marketed as “girls” rather than women. It was about projecting the idea that they were
just like every other girl, only they were lucky enough to become famous -- it was about them
saying, “you can be like us too.” Their ordinariness was their most effective tool.
The Threat of Terrorism
Generation Z kids were born into a world where terrorism was always present. 1996 was the
year that Osama bin Laden officially declared jihad on American in his August 23rd message
entitled “A declaration of war against the Americans occupying the land of the two holy places.”
In 1996, the Taliban seized control of Kabul and introduced a hard-line version of Islam.
Global Warming Becomes a Legitimate Concern
In 1996, global warming became very real and a cause legitimate concern. In addition to the
National Academy of Sciences study, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) concluded in 1996: “The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human
influence on global climate.”

5. The Experience
In fact, young jurors review their experiences on YELP, and “the experience” is a value
point for net-age jurors. Here is a sample of the experiences of Denver and Dallas jurors:
Jury Duty...SCORE! Like all American citizen who are not complete a…s that
take their freedom for granted, I was obviously thrilled to find a jury summons
waiting for me in the mail one day when I arrived home from work. Sure, jury
duty can be inconvenient, dull, and even difficult--but it beats the hell of wild
west justice.
It's just like study hall. Remember those days? Let's review: Jury duty is on the
17th floor. - No phone calls. - No dedicated Wi-Fi. This ain't no Starbucks
I was called last spring for Denver...didn't have to serve though, just waited
around for a couple of hours and got a handful of free bus passes even though I
waked there. I call that a win.
If you get selected, just tell them that you have reading up on "jury nullification".
The judge, the DA and the defense attorney will have you tossed out so fast.
Customer Assistance for Jury Room - I have dealt with many public entities in
my day, but this is the most inconsistent, rude, and generally frustrating
department I have ever had to deal with. The form is ridiculous, USE BLUE OR
BLACK INK - ERASE ANY CHANGES COMPLETELY! IF they bother to
answer the phone I get contradictory advice and unbelievable attitude. No interest
in helping anyone navigate the system.
The Frank Crowley building has a great view of downtown Dallas from the higher
floors. You can almost see the exact spot where JFK got gunned down. But that
view is really the only remarkable thing about the Frank Crowley building. Other
than that, there are about 100 things they could do to make this a more pleasant
experience, such as:
a) Getting park in the morning is a beast. The lines for the garage are long and
block the streets. Also, is the only parking garage in America that doesn't have
some kind of system where you can pay by credit card? It's cash only. And even
as a juror, you have to pay $3 after validation. So if you leave during lunch,
you're paying 3 bucks. Then again at the end of the day. This is completely
ridiculous.
b) Getting in the front door is also a beast. They have one metal detector and a
long queue you have to wait in. You have to take off your belt and put all your
metal belongings into dirty, broken bins that look like they were salvaged from a

6. dumpster. The airport can service a billion people a year and get clean bins, but
the courthouse can't upgrade to two metal detectors? Really?
c) Getting upstairs: also a beast. There are 6 elevators. Maybe 8. I can't
remember. They may have been programmed by prisoners. They definitely seem
highly inefficient. You'll wait for 10 minutes at busy times. Maybe longer. You
can take the stairs--if you're up for smelling like B.O. in the summer after huffing
and puffing your way up 11 floors.
d) If you're there for jury duty, you end up in a central jury room with about 8000
other citizens that reinforces every instinct you've ever had to question whether
humanity even deserves to survive. Almost everyone is grumpy, half-awake, and
acting like they're the ones going to jail instead of the people above them in the
courts. In the room they show a video that looks like it was produced in the 1980s
and which informs you of how awesome your life now is because you get to be a
juror. #AmericaRules! Like an hour later they start calling out groups of people
by assigned number on your jury summons and you are sent to a court or
dismissed.
e) After dealing with the ten minute delay to get an elevator, you go to a court and
generally wait outside for an eternity until you are eventually filed into a
courtroom (I had to wait until close to 2 pm before this happened) so the attorneys
can pick a jury. In my case, the attorneys were two women who barely looked old
enough to be out of law school for the prosecution (making you wonder about the
sad state of public service) and a defense attorney who looked like he would
rather be anywhere else, but this could have been part of some elaborate ruse on
his part to seem like a "normal guy" who then surprises you with the way he
handles a witness.
f) Eventually after shuffling in and out of court you are either picked to be on a
jury or dismissed. If you end up on the jury, you get to sit in a cold court room
that doesn't look nearly as cool as anything on Law & Order, you get to listen to
attorneys who come off like bad actors trying to give Hollywood courtroom style
monologues, and you get to spend your spare time (and there is a lot of it) in a
jury room with a bathroom so small and poorly designed that you will become
overly familiar with the sound of your fellow jurors urinating.
g) Again, if you want anything decent to eat you either have to fork over 3 bucks
to leave the garage or pack a lunch (the jury room has a fridge), because your only
options are a snack bar and a cafeteria that is straight out of the 70s with greasy
food and--again--no option to pay with credit card.

7. h) On the plus side, in my experience the bailiff and the judge seemed like great
people who went out of their way to show that they genuinely appreciated your
time and effort and they wanted the experience to be as painless as possible for
the jurors.
$3 validated parking? Really? So, let me get this straight. I'm being asked to leave
work for a day (at a minimum), navigate my way to an intimidating part of town,
figure out which parking garage has the skywalk and you're still going to make
me pay for parking? City of Dallas, you're something else.
I don't hate jury duty as much as some folks but I hate having to serve at Frank
Crowley. Just being that close to Hotel Sterrett gives me the willies. Luckily, I
figured out to park in the D garage and managed to find a spot directly across
from the elevators. This is the best parking scenario I've found yet. Your validated
parking stub is on the jury summons sheet you received in the mail, so make sure
you hang onto that paper once you check-in.
If you're serving during the summer and looking for the coolest spot in the jury
room, head for the seats near the long wall of windows on the far side of the
room. The vents blow pretty well over there even though the air doesn't seem to
make it to the other side of the room.
There aren't many decent, quick food options nearby so bring change for the
vending machines (they don't always take dollars even though they look like they
should). There's a cafeteria on site if you're feeling brave, so bring cash for that as
I didn't notice whether or not they take plastic.
Be sure to bring a book or iPod as you'll do more sitting around and waiting than
anything. And if you need to leave the building after 5 to smoke, take a buddy to
stand inside the door and open it back up. They lockdown the building at straight
up 5:00.
They've upped jury pay if you get picked for a jury ($40/day) and the first day is
still $6. I used to donate my jury money but I served on a jury for a few days and
learned quickly to take the compensation.
The court reporter must have had a long weekend, because during a particularly
long recess she put her head down for a quick cat nap. I don't blame her, I was
feeling pretty drowsy myself. Of course, sitting on an uncomfortable wooden
bench for nearly 3 hours didn't help things either.
It's freezing in the whole building so wear pants (they say 'no shorts' but haven't
said anything to me.) Hypothermia will be your reward for civil service.

8. If your lucky, the judge will be interesting even though you've heard the same
spiel every time.
Be ready for people dropping f-bombs, the x-ray/metal detector people to be
snippy with you, and when they say be there at 8:30, they really mean 8:45 for
those of you who are perpetually late.
Now for ambiance, you could do better. Think of being stuck in a large bus
station with endless rows of seats, a TV where you can't change the channel, and a
big dully-lit grey room with that nicotine-stained florescent lighting. At least there
are windows (so you can see outside to the sad, grey overcast November day!) A
big communista PA system announces: "Panel 21, now calling Panel 21: please
line up in two's next to the entrance."
Bring lot's of reading materials or work to do. Otherwise, here are the offerings in
their magazine rack: LTD commodities, Delicious Living, Edutopia, Conscious
Choice, a SW Airlines magazine from 2008, Radiologic Technology. What, no
Claims Adjuster monthly? I was thrilled to find a Consumer's Report where I
learned all about vacuums and the value of store brands vs, say Ragu.
Fill out your questionaire and bring cash. Everything is cash here. They do have
an ATM
Here are the things that made my experience sweet-
-woke up 2.5 hours later than normal (815am!) and still got there early
-20min. easy train ride
-watched the View and other various ABC soaps all day
-90 min. lunch, normally I only get 60
-did a week's worth of RedEye crosswords and read a book
-Asian American Fest in the front of the Plaza! Lunch was Indian and Thai food
on a beautiful day
-those of us left in the giant room got to leave early (245pm)
- $17.20 for sitting around all day, and I got paid by work also!
-a friendly staff that made the whole operation smooth and efficient, especially
when dealing with such a large group
Can't wait for the next summons! I think.

9. Oh no. The only reason you're look at this review is because you've gotten the
dreaded summons in your hand.
Have no fear; you might actually be in for a pretty relaxing day. I recommend the
following to get the most out of your civic-duty-serving time:
1. Give yourself plenty of time to get there -Finding the building takes time.
Check in takes time. Using the slow elevator takes time. If you don't wait for the
last minute none of this will stress you out.
2. Bring your devices, and make sure they're charged - Yay! Thank you NYS for
now supplying wifi in the Jury waiting room. I didn't see any outlets so remember
to charge the night before.
3. Bring cash - There's a guy outside selling coffee, donuts, etc but he only takes
cash. There's an ATM but why pay a fee when you can avoid it.
4. Bring a water bottle - There's a drinking fountain available, but if the idea of
that many people from all walks of life using the same fountain freaks you out,
you might be happy you brought your own.
5. Wear some warm clothes - The AC is cranked in there and it gets pretty chilly.
6. Understand who else is in the room - Jury Duty is a cross section of the city
you live in. Not everyone will listen to instructions or be polite. If this bothers
you, keeping to yourself is prudent.
7. And most importantly, bring a positive mindset - It's always easier if you're
prepared for the worst and understand what you're about to get into.
In my experience, Jury Duty wasn't bad. Mind you I didn't get selected for a Jury,
was out after 4 hours, and not required to come back the next day, but still it could
have been much worse. Plus you get a day or two off from work. How bad can
that be?
A review of the Younger juror’s comments reveal that they do not demand the
unreasonable, and that their criticism is not necessarily about the lawyers or the judge: They
simply want:
1. Courtrooms and jury rooms that are not too hot or too cold;
2. Good food and coffee;
3. Credit card/ATM friendly environment;
3. Free transportation or validated parking;

10. 4. Pleasant people;
5. Working elevators, escalators, and security entry points;
6. Clean bathrooms;
7. No embarrassment.
The biggest stressors were:
1. Worry that they would be late with difficulty finding parking and long security
lines;
2. Trouble finding the courtroom;
3. The Court in an unfamiliar location;
4. Running out of cash for food and parking;
5. Being yelled at by security or someone in authority.
6. Say something stupid.
Can you relate to these concerns?
What can you do in response?

11. Processing Information:
“What the heck is the Court? Everyone kept saying the “Court.” I always
thought that was a building; I felt stupid when I found out that was a name for the
judge after the trial was over.”
“Pleadings? That sounds like a goat.”
“Propondrance [sic]? Does that mean stupid?”
What’s the Issue?
The Rt. Lord Igor, the former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, sees a distinction of how
young jurors process information, but is the thought processing transformation limited to the
youth?
The idea that "the [Internet/text messaging/the iPod] is feasting upon the brains of our youth" has
gained attention, and even England's Lord Chief Justice now believes that young jurors need to
have information in court shown to them on "screens." In a speech covered by the UK's
Telegraph, Lord Judge noted that young jurors “are not listening. They are reading." But not in
depth. He believes that tech-savvy youngsters have either lost or failed to cultivate the ability to
process large chunks of oral information. Accustomed to skimming articles, multitasking
between projects, constantly clicking links to other sites, such people would better process key
information if presented on screens instead of simply through oral argument.
Lord Igor
Nicholas Carr described his experience – that transcends generational lines (“Is Google Making
Us Stupid? What the Internet is doing to our brains” Nicholas Carr Jul 1 2008, 12:00 PM ET)
“Over the past few years I've had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or
something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry,
reprogramming the memory. My mind isn't going—so far as I can tell—but it's
changing. I'm not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly
when I'm reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be

12. easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument,
and I'd spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That's rarely the case
anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get
fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I'm
always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used
to come naturally has become a struggle.”
Is this Really New? What is the context and perspective?
As the media theorist Marshall McLuhan pointed out in his book in 1964, the Extensions of Man,
media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they
also shape the process of thought. McLuhan is known for coining the expressions the “medium is
the message” and the “global village”, and for predicting the World Wide Web almost thirty
years before it was invented. McLuhan's The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic
Man (written in 1961, first published in Canada by University of Toronto Press in 1962) is
mosaic mash up in print of media, that pre-mimics internet surfing. Throughout the book,
McLuhan demonstrates how media affects cognitive organization, which in turn has profound
ramifications for social organization:
...[I]f a new technology extends one or
more of our senses outside us into the social
world, then new ratios among all of our
senses will occur in that particular culture. It
is comparable to what happens when a new
note is added to a melody. And when the
sense ratios alter in any culture then what
had appeared lucid before may suddenly
become opaque, and what had been vague or
opaque will become translucent.
Shocking to think that we toss expressions invented in 1960’s around today as novel notions.
Squirrel!
But is this all really “new,” and should we be afraid. What was the thinking among the lawyers
when youth started watching television or swiveling their hips to Elvis? “Television has
attracted young viewers since broadcasting began in the 1940s. Concerns about the effects of
television on young children emerged almost immediately, and have been fueled by a steady
stream of academic research showing a negative association between television viewing and
student achievement. These findings have made the introduction and diffusion of television a

13. popular explanation for trends such as the decline in average verbal SAT scores during the 1970s
(Wirtz et al, 1977; Winn, 2002), and the secular decline in verbal ability across cohorts (Glenn,
1994).” See Does Television Rot Your Brain? New Evidence from the Coleman Study Matthew
Gentzkow, Jesse M. Shapiro, University of Chicago (2006). Does this sound familiar?
And the horrors when women started to serve on juries? Remember as late as 1961, the Supreme
Court were upheld laws prohibiting women from service:
“[W]oman is still regarded as the center of
home and family life. We cannot say that it
is constitutionally impermissible for a
State, acting in pursuit of the general
welfare, to conclude that a woman should
be relieved from the civic duty of jury
service unless she herself determines that
such service is consistent with her own
special responsibilities.”
Don’t we experience the same net phenomena as the young juror – Skimming and
Effeciency?
This isn't just the musing of curmudgeons as science writer Jonathan Gitlin noted that
"there are a number of scientific studies that back up many of these points, such
as the one that showed that receiving e-mail messages affected volunteers'
performance during IQ tests more than a toke on a joint, although I'm yet to hear
of anyone smoking a spliff at work and trying to claim that it's not an issue
because 'Bob over there is checking his e-mail.'"
Bruce Friedman, who blogs regularly about the use of computers in medicine, also has described
how the Internet has altered his mental habits. “I now have almost totally lost the ability to read
and absorb a longish article on the web or in print,” he wrote earlier this year. A pathologist
who has long been on the faculty of the University of Michigan Medical School, Friedman said,
has taken on a “staccato” quality, reflecting the way he quickly scans short passages of text from
many sources online. “I can’t read War and Peace anymore,” he admitted. “I’ve lost the ability
to do that. Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim
it.”
A recently published study of online research habits conducted by scholars from University
College London, suggests that we may well be in the midst of a sea change in the way we read
and think. As part of the five-year research program, the scholars examined computer logs

14. documenting the behavior of visitors to two popular research sites, one operated by the British
Library and one by a U.K. educational consortium, that provide access to journal articles, e-
books, and other sources of written information. They found that people using the sites exhibited
“a form of skimming activity,” hopping from one source to another and rarely returning to any
source they’d already visited. They typically read no more than one or two pages of an article or
book before they would “bounce” out to another site. Sometimes they’d save a long article, but
there’s no evidence that they ever went back and actually read it. The authors of the study report:
It is clear that users are not reading online in the traditional sense; indeed there are
signs that new forms of “reading” are emerging as users “power browse”
horizontally through titles, contents pages and abstracts going for quick wins. It
almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense.
The BBC describes the research published in the peer-reviewed science journal PLoS ONE:
A research team led by Hao Lei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan
carried out brain scans of 35 men and women aged between 14 and 21. Seventeen
of them were classed as having Internet addiction disorder (IAD) on the basis of
answering yes to questions such as, “Have you repeatedly made unsuccessful
efforts to control, cut back or stop Internet use?”
Specialised MRI brain scans showed changes in the white matter of the brain—the part that
contains nerve fibres—in those classed as being web addicts, compared with non-addicts.
Furthermore, the study says, "We provided evidences demonstrating the multiple structural
changes of the brain in IAD subjects. VBM results indicated the decreased gray matter volume in
the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), the supplementary motor area (SMA), the
orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the cerebellum and the left rostral ACC (rACC)."
Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at Tufts University and the author of Proust and
the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. “We are how we read.” Wolf worries
that the style of reading that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else, may be
weakening our capacity for the kind of deep comprehension. When we read online, she says, we
tend to become “mere decoders of information.”
I am pretty certain that very few, if any people have actually read this paper to this point. Said
no one ever (An nullified attribution intended to convey the absurdity of a statement.) There will
be a pop quiz question and a prize.
Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20's and 30's that value
independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock,
creativity, intelligence, and witty banter. The greatest concentrations of hipsters can be found
living in the Williamsburg, Wicker Park, and Mission District neighborhoods of major
cosmopolitan centers such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco respectively. Although

15. "hipsterism" is really a state of mind,it is also often intertwined with distinct fashion sensibilities.
Hipsters reject the culturally-ignorant attitudes of mainstream consumers, and are often be seen
wearing vintage and thrift store inspired fashions, tight-fitting jeans, old-school sneakers, and
sometimes thick rimmed glasses. Both hipster men and women sport similar androgynous hair
styles that include combinations of messy shag cuts and asymmetric side-swept bangs. Such
styles are often associated with the work of creative stylists at urban salons, and are usually too
"edgy" for the culturally-sheltered mainstream consumer. The "effortless cool" urban bohemian
look of a hipster is exemplified in Urban Outfitters and American Apparel ads which cater
towards the hipster demographic. Despite misconceptions based on their aesthetic tastes, hipsters
tend to be well educated and often have liberal arts degrees, or degrees in maths and sciences,
which also require certain creative analytical thinking abilities.
Attention Span Data:
Statistic Verification
Source: The Associated Press
Research Date: 4.28.2013
Attention Span Statistics Data
The average attention span in 2012 8 seconds
The average attention span in 2000 12 seconds
The average attention span of a gold fish 9 seconds
Percent of teens who forget major details of close friends and relatives 25 %
Percent of people who forget their own birthdays from time to time 7 %
Average number of times per hour an office worker checks their email
inbox
30
Average length watched of a single internet video 2.7 minutes
Internet Browsing Statistics (Taken from 59,573 page views)
Percent of page views that last less than 4 seconds 17 %
Percent of page views that lasted more than 10 minutes 4 %
Percent of words read on web pages with 111 words or less 49 %
Percent of words read on an average (593 words) web page 28 %
Users spend only 4.4 seconds more for each additional 100 words
Source: Harald Weinreich, Hartmut Obendorf, Eelco Herder, and Matthias Mayer: “Not Quite
the Average: An Empirical Study of Web Use,” in the ACM Transactions on the Web, vol. 2, no.
1 (February 2008), article #5.
As Nicholas Carr said, “The Net’s influence doesn’t end at the edges of a computer screen,
either. As people’s minds become attuned to the crazy quilt of Internet media, traditional media
have to adapt to the audience’s new expectations. Television programs add text crawls and pop-
up ads, and magazines and newspapers shorten their articles, introduce capsule summaries, and

16. crowd their pages with easy-to-browse info-snippets. When, in March of this year, The New
York Times decided to devote the second and third pages of every edition to article abstracts , its
design director, Tom Bodkin, explained that the “shortcuts” would give harried readers a quick
“taste” of the day’s news, sparing them the “less efficient” method of actually turning the pages
and reading the articles. Old media have little choice but to play by the new-media rules.”
How do we respond and communicate with Horizontality, Skimming and Efficiency?
That’s the essence of Kubrick’s dark prophecy in 2001: as we come to rely on computers to
mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial
intelligence.
Is it actually difficult for you to sit down and read anything for more than twenty minutes?
Does your brain feel overstimulated, poked and prodded by bits of information, instant messages,
unread e-mails sitting in my inbox, constant electronic contacts?
So do we as a profession fight in favor of concentration and orality, or do we accept the changes
that our fully-connected lifestyles are creating?
What does the new court look like and how will a universal medium be invented with a purpose
of justice rather than entertainment or “likes”?
NOW After all of the data and a perspective that this has been an ongoing dialogue as more
people and media are introduced into the justice system, let’s get down to talking to young
jurors.
A young juror has never been in a position of power. It is unlikely that they have been treated
with respect, and they most likely have not had a great deal of control over many decisions in
their lives. They do not know how to act under these new circumstances, and you need to be
their guide to being a great juror. And they can be great.
In interviewing young jurors and focus groups, they were very confused about the process and
their role. They did not understand why the judge was not yelling at them to behave (as in their

17. parents, teachers, and police). They are not sure that they make good choices about their own
lives, much less the lives of others. They were not confident they could pay attention or make a
decision; and if they thought they might be able to do this job, they didn’t really want people to
know because it would be all about ego. They also felt ashamed and confused with their feelings
about the process; was it “cool,” should they be disinterested, what if they did something wrong?
In my experience, the only way to work through this immediate growth process during the heat
of the trial is to use “enrollment” and partnership strategies. You want to ensure that they
understand and hear that they belong in the process.
Conduct yourself in court in a fashion that the young juror can respect and model with enrolling
strategies. Here is some feedback and recommendations from my experiences:
1. “We had effective communication because I was treated as an equal. Not in terms
of who was in charge (that was clear) but in that I had a voice."
2. Let the teens speak first – before any other juror. Young people we surveyed said
that if they have a chance to talk first, they're more receptive to what others say. Once
teens get to speak their minds, they're usually willing to listen to the other side.
3. Young people today are taught collaboration, community, abundance and problem
solving skills more than “back in the day.” Guide them through collaborative
conversation; acknowledge strength that you hear.
In a moving and madly viral video last year, composer Eric Whitacre led a virtual choir
of singers from around the world. He talks through the creative challenges of making
music powered by YouTube and the desire of young people to be in community.
http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_whitacre_a_virtual_choir_2_000_voices_strong.html
4. Don't interrupt other people in the Court; it’s read as bullying and disrespect. "My
parents interrupt me and lecture/yell. Then while they're talking and I want to get a word
in, I'm yelled at for interrupting. It's really unfair."
5. Watch your tone of voice and body language. Model what you want young juror
to do. When parents yell or use sarcasm or point fingers, kids figure it's okay for them to
do the same. They also put on their protective gear and get into "fight" position. Many
young people live in abusive situations; abuse makes then shut down.
6. Explain what you want and why. Have your young juror restate what you've told
him. Explain the reasons for your request or rule.
7. Fight fair. No name-calling. Stick to the issue at hand. Avoid the words "always"
and "never."
8. Take a break when necessary. They are hungry, thirsty, sleepy, and growing.

18. 9. Ask them how they lead in their lives.
10. Horizontal “efficient” learning.
11. Use pictures – Instead of Opening “Statement” give an Opening “Dialogue”
12. Avoid courtoom “selfies.” The case is not about you.
12. Hire young creative people to help you connect and communicate. Get inspired
from play and current media for learning and communication platforms:
http://www.flipsnack.com/ Flipsnack is an application used to convert PDF files into a
flipping book that is easy to use. Simply upload a PDF file, customize the book, and
share. The online flip books are designed to resemble regular print books. You can
choose a classic, hardcover, coil, or interactive flip format for your book, as well as a
book size.
http://www.myhistro.com/ GEO-LOCATED INTERACTIVE TIMELINES WITH A
SOCIAL TWIST Watch and read thousands of fascinating timelines, or create your own.
Complete with text, video and pictures to create a dynamic timeline mashup. Using
myHistro, you can combine maps and timelines seamlessly into one great presentation,
convert any public timeline into a personal pdf file, or export it into Google Earth format
for offline storage.
http://www.easel.ly/ Create and share visual ideas online. Vhemes are visual themes.
drag and drop a vheme onto your canvas for easy creation of your visual idea! This is a
vheme!
https://workflowy.com/ Create interactive, colorful lists! Mix and match pieces of the
story, thoughts, collaboration! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSmbnaPZVHE
http://seriouslyamazing.si.edu/ Smithsonian learning
http://www.edudemic.com/
http://dp.la/ Amazing interactive timelines and maps linking hundreds of million of
images and works to time and place. And all libraries….(in the works)

19. 13. What is shocking to you may not be to young jurors.
Huston and colleagues have estimated that the average 18-year-old will have viewed 200,000
acts of violence on television (Huston, A.C., Donnerstein, E., Fairchild, H. et al. Big World,
Small Screen: The Role of Television in American Society. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska
Press, 1992.)

20. What Frightens America's Youth?
For many Americans, the definition of fear changed on Sept. 11, 2001. With the memory of
those attacks still vivid in their young minds, U.S. teens still perceive terrorism as a real threat --
it ranks among the things teens fear most. When Gallup recently asked 13- to 17-year-olds what
they are most afraid of in an open-ended format, there was no real consensus, but terrorism was
mentioned by 8% -- the most frequently mentioned topic. Most teens just said "terrorism" or
"terrorists," but some named specific horrors, such as "biochemical attack," "chemical terrorist
attack," "biological warfare," or "another incident like 9/11."
Such responses likely remind baby boomers of the pervasive anxiety generated among young
people during the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, fears of nuclear war led to talk
about backyard fallout shelters and monthly atomic air raid warning drills in which
schoolchildren had to "duck and cover" under their desks.

21. Equally sad themes -- such as death, dying, being killed, and deadly accidents -- are top-of-mind
responses for another 7% of America's teens.
Accidents are the No. 1 cause of adolescent deaths, and this is why their participation in the
justice system is vital.
Fear of failure or of not succeeding in life is about as common. Teens' specific responses in this
vein include:
"Making mistakes that will mess up my life"
"Not being successful"
"Not measuring up"
"Not getting into a good college"
"I'll close doors on myself and find myself in a position where I can't succeed because of
something I'm doing right now"
"Afraid of failing in life in general -- not achieving the goals I have set for myself"
The real world, like moving out, doing my own thing, getting a job"
"Growing up because you have to pay bills and stuff"
"The workforce collapsing after I get out of college"
"The fact we never know when things will happen, like the tsunami. Anything could happen
at any time."
Speaking in front of others is often one of a teen's top fears, according to KidsHealth. Whether it
is a public speaking class, oral book report or class presentation, these situations can be quite
stressful and nerve-wracking for your teen. Your teen’s fear of messing up, sounding stupid or
failure in general can contribute to the scariness of the situation. Peer Issues
Friends and social networks are very important to a teenager. Your teen may be afraid to speak
up if he doesn’t agree with his friends. He may be scared of rejection, standing out or being
different. According to the Blue Penguin Development website, your teen may harbor fear that
others may use social networks and other technology to spread information about him that would
negatively impact his life and his relationships.
Bullying has become a serious issue among young people. The U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services defines bullying as “unwanted, aggressive behavior among children that
involves a real or perceived power imbalance.” Threats, rumors, physical attacks, verbal attacks

22. and purposeful exclusion of a person are all forms of bullying. Your teen may be scared of being
bullied or may even be scared of a bully already. Talk to your child about this issue if you think
this is the case and seek professional guidance, if needed.
Teenagers can feel the fear of failure just as much as an adult. Your teen may be afraid that he
won’t succeed in his sports performance, academic achievement or college placement. The idea
of letting his parents down can be terrifying. Talk to him about your expectations and reassure
him that no matter what happens, you still love, approve and appreciate him.
The idea of setting off into the adult world after finishing high school can be very scary. Not
only will she be on her own, away from her comfortable home, that unknown world is full of
new pressures and stressors. She may be scared of failing out of college or disappointing her
parents. The idea of making new friends and studying for difficult college classes can also strike
up some fear.
Dozens of girls worried about their weight and took photos of themselves standing on scales.
Others had issues in their relationships with their family and friends. In response to the question
"What are you afraid of?" the girls revealed the following answers, according to the "Today"
show:
“Being alone.”
“Rejection.”
“I’m afraid of screwing up — BIG TIME!”
“Disappointing others.”
“Not accomplishing my dreams.”
“Not having a good GPA.”
“Not getting into college.”
“Failed future.”
“Growing old alone.”
“Being stuck in one place forever.”
“Being a failure at life.”
“Being fat and ugly.”
So what do you do with all of this information? Let’s talk.